List of Big Brother 2006 housemates (UK)

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Following is a list of the 22 housemates that participated in the seventh series of Big Brother UK, in alphabetical order.

Contents 1 Aisleyne 2 Bonnie 3 Dawn 4 George 5 Glyn 6 Grace 7 Imogen 8 Jayne 9 Jennie Corner 10 Jonathan 11 Lea 12 Lisa 13 Michael 14 Mikey 15 Nikki 16 Pete 17 Richard 18 Sam 19 Sezer 20 Shahbaz 21 Spiral 22 Susie 23 References

[edit] Aisleyne

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace (born 28 December 1978)^[1] is a model and promotions girl from London, who entered the Big Brother House on Day 12 as a prize from the Meal or No Meal task in week 2. Aisleyne has been romantically linked to Mike Tyson whom she was photographed with and allegedly dated for several weeks in 2005.^[2]

Aisleyne was accused by other housemates of "acting black" and (most vocally by Grace) of being a wigger. On her arrival in the House she sparked bitching among Imogen (who developed a friendship with her in the later stages) Sezer and Grace. On the spin-off show Big Brother's Big Brain, it was stated that Aisleyne was the clearest example of a 'High Mach' (hence more likely to be calculating, untrusting and detached socially) according to the Machiavellian test that all contestants took before the show. She was very upset when she discovered this. When Grace threw water from a glass at Susie seconds before her eviction from the Big Brother House, Aisleyne was the most vocal housemate, expressing shock and disgust at Grace's actions.

In the sixth week, with five nominations, Aisleyne faced being moved to The House Next Door. However, she was unaware of this, believing she was up for the usual eviction. On Day 44, Aisleyne was the housemate with the most votes (67.3% of the public vote), and she moved into the House Next Door. On Day 49, it was revealed to the housemates in the main House that Aisleyne hadn't been evicted, but had moved to the House Next Door. Aisleyne then had to evict one of the remaining housemates in the House Next Door; she chose to evict Jonathan and returned with Spiral to the main House.

Aisleyne evaded nomination in the latter weeks to make it to the final despite clearly hearing the eviction night crowds chanting "Aisleyne Out!", leaving her confidence damaged and making her increasingly paranoid and fearful.

She had called Sezer "a bully" to his face when he had boasted about how he got rid of the housemates he didn't like, and she was also the only onlooker to immediately voice particular concern about Grace's water-throwing on the night of her eviction, she rejected Spiral's advances (who later declared he felt used by Aisleyne) and she attacked the ways of Lea on her eviction week ("It's just me, me, me") and Nikki ("boring... you better know yourself if you're talking about me, little girl").

Support for her on internet forums subsequently had an effect on official betting and her odds of winning in the final week tumbled from 33/1 down to 4/1 making her the second favourite. The Daily Mirror and website lowculture urged its readers to vote for her.

Despite a swelling of support outside the house, Aisleyne appeared convinced of her own unpopularity. However, she finished in third place and became the highest placed female, a position she had not expected. She was particularly shocked when she heard names of housemates that she perceived as popular leaving before her; Nikki in fifth place and Richard in fourth. She exited the house to a mixed reception. She told Davina about not liking the person she was before she entered the house and that her Big Brother experience had changed her for the better.

At the BBLB reunion show, during her interview with presenter Dermot O'Leary, housemate Spiral refused to clap or acknowledge any of her VTs. When asked if she had resolved her issues with Grace, Aisleyne simply responded with "no" and then, dismissed the question.

It was recently claimed by Aisleyne's father, Steve Wallace, that she was disowned by her mother. Aisleyne directly contradicted this in an interview by saying she left of her own accord.^{[citation needed]}

Aisleyne made a guest appearance on Choice FM's "Morning Vybe" show four weeks after leaving the Big Brother house and is thought to be interested in pursuing radio and DJ work as a career.

She has also made a sideline in glamour modelling, appearing in magazines Zoo Weekly, Nuts and The daily Star on a number of occasions, and recently shooting a campaign for an unnamed lingerie company.^{[citation needed]}

Horgan-Wallace has recently been involved with the NHS Stop Smoking campaign in association with Cancer Research UK.^[3]

She is a regular sex columnist for More magazine and currently presents her own show on the online urban radio station Invincible Radio every Thursday from 5-7pm.^[4] She recently appeared in an episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe.^[5]

Aisleyne reported that Grace apologised to her at the Big Brother reunion, Aisleyne claimed to have accepted this apology.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Bonnie

Bonnie Holt (born February 1986), the first housemate to enter, is a care worker from Loughborough, working with people who have Down's syndrome.^[6] Her strong Loughborough accent caused some housemates to mistakenly call her "Bonner". After failing to get elected to the Big Brotherhood she was the series first evictee, on Day 9, with 78% of the vote.

In Bonnie's post-eviction interview, Davina noted that in the House Bonnie seemed to be rather quiet and shy; very different to the loud and mouthy character shown in her initial audition VT. In her after show press conference, which was shown on BBLB, she attributed her quietness to the fact that she was unable to express herself without her suitcase. According to Davina's on-air announcement during Day 79's eviction night special, Bonnie would not be eligible to re-enter the House as part of the Week 12 "The House Next Door" twist, for "legal reasons". Police are investigating allegations that she ordered takeaway pizzas and did not pay for them.^[7] She attended the Big Brother 7 final. Bonnie gave herself the nickname "pink power ranger" because she wore pink clothes.

[edit] Dawn

Dawn Blake (born September 1967) is an exercise scientist from Birmingham, who says she thinks "the realities of life are shit". In her audition for the show Dawn claimed that she thinks Gandhi, Bob Geldof and Mother Theresa are rare examples of genuinely "nice" people and everyone else in the world are just "bastards". She also stated that she doesn't have, or need, any friends. However, similar to almost all the housemates, her personality in the House seemed to differ greatly from her personality in her audition tape, as she was generally friendly to all the other housemates. On entry to the House, she claimed that if she were to be reincarnated, she would want to come back as either Jesus or Adolf Hitler.

After seven days in the house Dawn received a message from her family saying "your sister is ill". She was later observed to tell the other contestants that "I have a code" and "Something bad has happened, I need to leave". In the afternoon Dawn announced that she was leaving, and that Big Brother had convinced her to stay for one more night so they could make arrangements for her departure. That evening Dawn packed what little clothes she had, and made it quite clear she was going and hence she was no longer part of the game.

The following day, Dawn was called to diary room and before entering she said goodbye to each of the remaining contestants. When entering the diary room she was asked to sit down, and she refused saying that "I am not part of the game anymore, please could you let me out now", when her request was denied she angrily shouted "shut up" so as to indicate she was no longer prepared to enter into a discussion. Eventually the exit of the diary room was opened and she left. Later on the producers would claim that Dawn was ejected.^[8]

(Much later, Lea told the group that Dawn had confessed that the message she received was a code for when she was receiving a hostile reaction from the press. No footage was shown of Dawn telling Lea this)

Dawn later went 'on hunger strike' until the producers of Big Brother provided her with unedited footage to prove she had been kept in the House against her will. The Hertfordshire Police Force launched an inquiry into her claims. She remained on hunger strike for just under 20 days.^[9] Invited or not, Dawn did not attend the Big Brother 7 Final.

[edit] George

George Askew (born September 1986) is a student from London, whose friends include Princess Beatrice of York and Sam Sangster (son of the race-horse owner Robert Sangster). A former student at Ludgrove School (he was there at the same time as Prince William and Prince Harry), he went on to Harrow School. George is the son of a former private secretary to the Prince of Wales. He is a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Ellesmere (through his paternal grandmother, Lady Susan Askew) and his great-uncle was the 6th Duke of Sutherland. One of his father's cousins married into the Bowes-Lyon family, Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and so it has been claimed he is linked to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.^[10]

On Day 13, George left the Big Brother House. He had told Grace his intentions earlier and she could not persuade him to stay. Before leaving he told Big Brother in the Diary Room:

"My reason for leaving the Big Brother House is the thought of fame and how I would like to continue my private life – and fame is too much for me."^[11]

Despite not making any television appearances after leaving the house, he did attend the Big Brother 7 Final and the end of season wrap party.

George attended Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne for all of 2 months since September 2006, studying Contemporary Photographic Practise before being kicked out. He now works as a Media Relations member for the show.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Glyn

Glyn Tomos Wise (born 9 January 1988) is a swimming pool lifeguard from Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd, and runner-up of Big Brother 7. He claims to have been voted "Sexiest Lifeguard in North Wales", He entered the House in his lifeguard attire complete with buoyancy aid. His first language is Welsh and he often spoke to fellow housemate Imogen in Welsh. Subtitles were used to translate their conversations. He would often spontaneously burst into song. He was the most intelligent housemate according to an intelligence test which all the housemates sat. Other tests revealed him to be the happiest and most perceptive housemate.

In the house, Glyn learnt 'kitchen-skills' (such as boiling an egg, which he celebrated by improvising a song), and early on Richard taught him how to wash his clothes. Glyn, (along with fellow housemate Pete), was also known to change his hairstyle often in the house. He initially went in with his natural messy brown hair but then shaved and dyed it both platinum blonde and (mistakenly) ginger.

On Day 84 Glyn ran across the roof of the Big Brother house in an attempt to contact the House Next Door, thus breaking the rules. He was told by Big Brother that he would receive his punishment on the following Friday. He was not allowed to take part in the discussion relating to which former housemate would move from the House Next Door into the Big Brother House.

On Day 90, housemates were asked to write their future autobiographies, detailing their life histories from the moment they left the BB house up until 2016. Glyn stated that he would return to Wales and train as a Welsh language teacher. He then hoped to go on to stand as a parliamentary candidate for Plaid Cymru. Then he said he would take over from Tony Blair and become the first Welsh Prime Minister (the only Welsh Prime Minister was David Lloyd George, who was not actually born in Wales). As Prime Minister, he would ban the sale of Welsh holiday homes to English people, and remove Prince Charles from his role as Prince of Wales.

In the final, Glyn came second with 38.8% of the final vote. During his interview with Davina, Glyn received a personal message from Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, thanking him for his passion towards the country. He was also commended for speaking Welsh in the House and helping to promote his native language.

Glyn told Davina in his post-eviction interview that he still planned to attend university in September 2006. However, when he appeared on the BBLB reunion show 2 days later, Glyn claimed he had changed his mind and was now taking a gap year in which he intends to enjoy his new found fame and "see the world".

Glyn gradually became favourite for the runner up position and even a contender to win, Glyn had bonds with many people in the house and no one hated him. His childlike ways and age made him harmless. His time in the house was a journey, many housemates stated this saying he came in a boy and left a man (he was 18 during the show).

He was very vocal with his patriotism, wearing clothes that support Wales and including Wales into tasks which had creative input.

Glyn has appeared in many Welsh and English television and radio shows on S4C and Radio Cymru. Glyn has also been made animated on the 'rude' cartoon, Cnex.^[12]

[edit] Grace

Grace Carla Adams-Short (born 11 August 1985) is a dance teacher from London. She is a former pupil of private school Plymouth College, and is a self-confessed Sloane Ranger. While in the House, she stated that she would not model for Nuts or Zoo but would for something like FHM. However, soon after her eviction she did a photo-shoot for Nuts. She also claimed she would not pose topless due to her job.

Her time in the House heralded a number of exposés of her life, including claims that she was a childhood bully^[13] and a failed pop star.^[14]

On Day 23 after Sam's eviction, the housemates gathered in the garden for selection of the Golden Housemate, Susie. Whilst in the garden, Grace heard the crowd outside chanting 'Get Grace Out!', which led her to break down in tears in the bathroom later on.

In the house, Grace was shown as being bitchy and two-faced to several housemates. She was close to Imogen, Sezer, George, Lisa and Glyn and had a relationship with Mikey which has continued since exiting the house.

Grace was evicted on Day 30, throwing a glass of water over Susie as she left, as Susie was the one responsible for putting her up for eviction, then calling Susie a "moose" and responding to Aisleyne's remonstrating with her by calling Aisleyne by the same epithet. She received 87.9% of the vote.

Before entering the House, Grace appeared on a TV show called Senseless for MTV UK, in which her ex-boyfriend fooled her and sent her on a date with a cross-dresser. This was originally shown on MTV on 12 June 2006, four days before Grace's eviction from the House.^[15]

On Day 83, Grace was the first out of the selected ex-housemates to be voted back in to the House Next Door having received 8.4% of the public vote.

To celebrate her 21st birthday, Grace was allowed to enter the Big Brother house for 21 minutes. Grace ignored most of the housemates and gave most of her attention to Glyn, who was glad to see his friend. Pete spent the whole time in the bathroom. Grace also dodged a brief confrontation with Aisleyne, who had a bone to pick with her for all of the name calling she did behind her back and for throwing water over Susie.

On Day 86, Grace was evicted from the House Next Door. She was once again subjected to the chant "Get Grace Out", to which she shouted back, "I'm coming out!".

Grace was attacked outside a London nightclub on September 19, 2006. She was reportedly repeatedly punched to the ground, kicked in the head and had cigarette burns to her arms. She needed eight stitches on her forehead, and she will most likely have permanent facial scarring from the ordeal. Grace claims the incident was unrelated to her appearance on Big Brother.^[16]

In October 2006, her engagement to Mikey, whom she had a relationship with in the house, was announced.^[17] In December 2006, Grace was crowned the winner of Sky One's reality television show, Cirque de Celebrité.^[18] Grace has also appeared on several other television programmes since leaving the house.

Grace was recently announced as the new face of Uncle Ben's Sweet and Sour to help mark the Chinese New Year with her new 'sweet' attitude.^[19]

[edit] Imogen

Imogen Thomas (born 27 November 1982) is a bar hostess and former beauty queen from Llanelli, South Wales, although she was residing in London before her entry into the house. She has a degree in Psychology and a degree in Health Studies from the University of Worcester and was officially crowned Miss Wales in 2003.

Up to week 5, Imogen was not allowed to participate in nominations. In week 1 she was in the Big Brotherhood, and there were no nominations. In weeks 2 and 3, she was banned from nominating for discussing nominations. In week 4, only Susie was permitted to nominate, and in week 5, as punishment for yet again discussing nominations she was forced (along with 4 other rule breakers) to nominate one fellow rule breaker in front of the group. Shortly after the evictions of fellow bitchy housemates Grace and Lisa, Imogen started to become good driends with fellow house mate Aisleyne a person who she keeps contacts with to this day.

A number of weeks after Imogen's entry into the house, a 7 minute home sex video appeared on the Internet showing her having sex with an ex-boyfriend.^[20]

On Day 84 Imogen moved with fellow nominee Richard into the House Next Door where she remained until she was evicted on Day 86 with 62% of the public vote.During this time she wasn't at all pleased about the bitching that fellow housemates Grace,Lea and Nikki were dong about Aisleyne.

After Big Brother Imogen discovered that the sex tape she made with ex boyfriend Leighton Brookfield had been broadcasted online, she is now in talks with her lawyer.^[21]

Since leaving the Big Brother house Imogen has secured a guest appearance on the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm,^[22] and apparently had a relationship with "Big Brother's Big Mouth" host, Russell Brand^[23] Imogen has denied rumours of a relationship with both fellow housemate Sezer and Russell Brand.

She has appeared in numerous Welsh television and radio programmes since leaving the house. These programmes include Wedi 7 (a magazine style programme), 'Jonathan' (presented by the rugby star Jonathan Davies and others) and Uned 5 (a show aimed at teenagers). Imogen has also appeared in photo-shoots for Zoo magazine.

In November 2006, Imogen was voted the Sexiest Woman in Wales. She beat-off competition from other Welsh Beauties including Catherine Zeta Jones and Charlotte Church.^[24] Imogen appears on the cover of the January, 2007 edition of Maxim magazine.^[25]

In a recent interview with a magazine, Imogen revealed she remained close to housemates Aisleyne, Glyn,Sezer and Shahbaz but not with Grace, who she had a friendship with in the house^{[citation needed]}

She is currently dating Antony Costa, formerly of the boyband Blue^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Jayne

Jayne Kitt (born 23 December 1969) is a recruitment advisor from Slough, Berkshire. On entering the House, Jayne said she wanted "to show the nation who I am - Jayne Kitt. Live it, breathe it, sleep it. Eat it, want it for breakfast, can't even wash up without thinking about it." Some of the other housemates referred to her as "Kitty Cat". On her first night in the House Next Door (Day 44), she decided to jump on her bed, causing the base to snap in two. On Day 46, Jayne became the first member of the House Next Door to be 'evicted' into the Main Big Brother House and was greeted by the excited housemates.

On Day 54, after consistent rule-breaking, Big Brother told Jayne that as a punishment all the housemates except herself would be put up for eviction. Jayne further irritated her fellow housemates by consistently belching. As Imogen put it: "..they're not just small ones, they're proper, full on belches." On Day 56, after she continued to break the BB rules, the House was told that they would not be performing a weekly shopping task and would receive only basic rations the following week. On Day 58, after obscuring not only her microphone, but other housemates microphones to conceal their conversation, Big Brother restricted the bathroom's hot water supply to one hour per day, as well as forbidding housemates to take a bath. On Day 59 Big Brother made housemates study the rules of the House and gave them an exam. In order to pass and not receive further punishment, housemates had to answer all questions correctly. Over half the housemates scored 18 out of 18, while 1 or 2 others scored 17 out of 18. Jayne scored 15 out of 18, and was caught cheating by copying Spiral's exam paper. The consequent punishment was that the pool was be out of bounds to every housemate. Some housemates suspected that Jayne was a mole due to her repeated failures in her assigned tasks.

In the ninth set of nominations, Jayne was nominated alongside Richard and was evicted by the public on Day 65 with 67.1% of the vote.

[edit] Jennie Corner

Born February 20, 1988, was a barmaid and student from Liverpool. She is fluent in Spanish, Turkish and French and has 8 GCSEs.^[26] She is also a heavy smoker and claims she 'needs fags' to be happy.

In June 2004, Jennie, just 16, was in a friend's car on her way to a night out in Liverpool when a drunk driver crashed his vehicle into them. Jennie's Two best friends were killed. Jennie, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt survived by pure luck, although she suffered concussion and broken ribs.

She entered the House Next Door on Day 44 with four new housemates and the re-entering Aisleyne. On Day 48 Jennie asked Aisleyne to choose her for eviction from the House Next Door taking a calculated risk in the hope that it would mean a move to the main House.^[27]

Aisleyne chose Jennie and Michael, who were both then moved into the main House where Jennie developed a close relationship with Pete and Glyn.

A psychologist on "Big Brothers Big Brain" concluded that there was a lot of chemistry between her and pete and said there is a bit of "Romeo and Juilet" going on.

She clashed with other housemates on various occasions, particularly Spiral, Mikey and Aisleyne. Despite a few arguments Jennie and Aisleyne became close, having spent time together in the house next door, Aisleyne calling Jennie her 'little sister' and vice versa.

Jennie survived 3 public votes (evictions of Nikki, Susie, and Mikey); is only the 4th (out of 16) late-entrant Housemate to reach the "Big Brother" final, and the youngest contestant in UK "BB" history at 18 years and 2 months on her entry day.

On Day 81, Jennie won the "Big Brother Board Game", which granted her immunity from the next week's nominations, thus guaranteeing her a place in the show's finale. She did however, during an argument with Aisleyne, say that she might not want to be in the final. On the night of the Final, Jennie finished in 6th place with over 40,000 votes

In October 2006, Jennie appeared alongside fellow contestant Glyn Wise in a special edition of Ready Steady Cook. Jennie appeared in a provocative photoshoot for Zoo, dressed in lingerie and knee-high boots; and was named 44th of ZOO magazine's "100 best bums", Jen is described as the "Unsung BB7 Hottie" and has made numerous personal appearances including the AA Driving School Challenge to become the face of "AA's" campaign for younger drivers with former "BB6" star Orlaith;[6] and came third in "Miss Mid Cheshire 2007", winning a year's contract with the Impact Modelling agency.[7]

[edit] Jonathan

Jonathan Leonard (born May 1982) is a bouncer from Keswick in Cumbria. Jonathan entered the House Next Door on Day 44 with 4 others and Aisleyne. On Day 49 he was evicted by Aisleyne from the House Next Door and never entered the 'Main' Big Brother House. Jonathan left the Big Brother House on a special live show, with no crowd outside. Aisleyne seemed to bond well with Jonathan while staying in the House Next Door with him but chose to evict him over Spiral as she claimed Jonathan had stated that he doesn't mind being evicted and that he could "take it on the chin".

Because Jonathan left on a surprise eviction with no crowd to cheer / boo him out, on the following Friday's Big Brother's Little Brother, shown a few hours before that week's eviction, Dermot sent him outside where a small crowd of early people had gathered to cheer him and chant his name.

After leaving the House, Jonathan appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth and stated that he has no hard feelings towards Aisleyne and wished her the very best inside the House. Due to the fact that he never entered the main Big Brother house, he was declared not eligible to return to the House. On the Final night, Davina gave him his eviction cheer from the audience.

[edit] Lea

Lea Walker (born 11 September 1970)^[28] is a single mother and model from Nottingham. She was the first mother to appear on Big Brother UK. Although it appears that she may "alter" her reported age to suit her fancy,^[29] her real birth certificate proving the birth date above has been printed in Heat Magazine and some of the tabloids. Lea has spent a reported £35,000 on cosmetic surgery, raising funds by selling her house. She appeared on a documentary about cosmetic surgery and relationships on the Five TV channel. She has also appeared in commercially available pornography. During an interview on Richard and Judy, Lea stated that acting in porn was a quick solution to make ends meet and that she would not do it again. She also appeared on ITV's The Springer Show and Five's Trisha Goddard in November 2004 eighteen months prior to appearing on Big Brother.

Lea made a drunken confession to fellow housemate Pete that she found him attractive, which shocked him, because he always saw her as a mother figure to him, but told her he was flattered and that he was "cool with it". She was evicted on Day 51 with 53.8% of the public vote, after losing out to Richard.^[30]

On Day 83, Lea was the second ex-housemate voted back in to the House Next Door gaining 7.3% of the vote. She was evicted again on Day 86.

As of March 2007, Lea now co-hosts a show on Sunday mornings with fellow contestant Richard named 'The Dicky and Dolly Show' on Gaydar Radio between 10 am and 1pm.

[edit] Lisa

Lisa Huo (born 4 January 1979) is an upholsterer and trainee plumber from Tameside, Greater Manchester brought up and attending school in Hattersley, Hyde. She speaks fluent Shanghainese,^[31] and lived in Shanghai until she was two. She initially spent most time with Pete, Lea and Richard and admitted to fancying Pete, but as week 3 progressed Lisa's friendship with Pete began to deteriorate, as he made it clear he only liked her as a friend and she appeared to take pleasure in torturing and killing insects, something that upset Pete greatly and led to an angry confrontation. Lisa became known for her regular use of the words "mint" (a popular Greater Manchester word to describe something good), "alright", and, in particular, "fuck" amongst other vulgarities.

In light of her 'rejection' by Pete, Lisa seemingly changed camps, spending less time with her original friends and more time with Grace, Imogen and Mikey. On Day 26 she won the Waiting Task, thereby gaining immunity from nomination for that week. She was evicted on Day 37 having received 60.3% of the public vote. During her interview, Davina showed a clip of her in which she swore 88 times in a 20 minute diary room conversation, an average of 4.4 times a minute. It was later revealed on Richard and Judy that during her time in the House, foul-mouthed Lisa swore an average of 4,128 times per day (4.3 times a minute).^[32] Lisa has since decided on a career as a plumber after leaving the Big Brother House.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Michael

Michael Cheshire (born December 1982) is an Industrial Relations student (at the London School of Economics) currently living in London. He is originally from Oldham and attended Saddleworth School. He is a member of Mensa International and has applied to study Theology at Cambridge University.^[33] He was introduced as the 100th Big Brother housemate on Big Brother UK.^[34] On Day 48, Michael asked Aisleyne to choose him as the next "evictee" from the House Next Door, Aisleyne did so and by doing so, Michael entered the main House with Jennie.

Michael shared his religious views with his former housemates in great detail. Michael had a relatively hard time getting along with housemate Richard; this is mainly due to the fact that Richard only seemed to talk to Michael about sex-related themes. Also, Richard insisted on calling Michael "she" (even after Michael told him he found it annoying). On his first morning in the House, Michael tried to start a conversation with Richard who then got up and sat somewhere else, saying 'Oh sorry, it's just that after the first week I've got a bit of Shahbaz Syndrome'.^[35] Later they reached a moment of understanding when Richard's letter was read to the housemates, Michael called it an epiphany.^[36] When asked why he did not get along with Richard in his eviction interview with Davina McCall, Michael replied: "He is vile. Can't people see it? Vote him out. He caused me psychological damage in there. I almost went to see the psychologist because I really wanted to get on with him. He's an objectionable, rude man".^[37] Michael claimed he felt different after Richard's letter was read out but still thought he was "a wanker".

Michael carried round with him a stuffed model of his parents' black cat, Scruples. On the final night he revealed he had donated it to charity after he was evicted.

On Day 72, Michael was evicted with "Best Friend" Spiral in a double eviction, after receiving only 9.7% of the public vote to save them.

[edit] Mikey

Mikey Dalton (born 16 April 1983, as Shahin Michael Hamadani) is a half-Iranian software developer and model from Liverpool. When he was at school, Mikey changed his name by adopting his mother's maiden name and his middle name in fear of a racist backlash.^[38] His activities in the House were dominated by flirtatious activity with both Imogen and Grace. He took a liking to Grace in the first few days and the two were kissing and sharing a bed by the end of the first week. Mikey made a particular habit of complimenting Grace's "peachy bum." He also had a laid-back attitude to the relationship, saying he didn't mind Grace flirting with George.

In the early weeks Mikey allied himself with "the plastics" as Richard called them (Grace, George, Imogen, Sezer, Nikki and Lisa). He lost his two best friends when George and Sezer left within a week. During the "meal or no meal" task Mikey succeeded in winning the housemates their meat and fish products, but was later fired from his job as a lifeguard during the Temping task for "petting" Grace, a violation of one of the three rules.

Grace was very upset when the "get Grace out" chants were heard during the selection of the Golden Housemate. Mikey tried to comfort her and was very annoyed that she had been allowed to hear it. He became frustrated by her frequent crying and lost his temper after Grace failed to win immunity from nomination in the Waiting Game task. Mikey said he couldn't have fun with her anymore because she was constantly upset. This situation settled down during Grace's last week in the house. Aisleyne regularly claimed that Mikey and Grace's relationship was fake. Imogen has recently endorsed this viewpoint but Mikey and Grace have always denied these allegations. Mikey confronted Aisleyne when she shouted at Grace for throwing the water over Susie during her eviction, telling her to "shut the fuck up." Despite promising to wait for Grace and shedding tears the night after her eviction, he became physically close to Imogen in the following weeks. Mikey soon settled his differences with Aisleyne and became friends with Glyn and Spiral. He never got on with Susie or Richard, saying they were boring and that Richard annoyed him.

After Mikey's eviction Grace accepted his assertion that his friendship with Imogen had been platonic, and Mikey and Grace resumed their physical flirting while in the House Next Door together. His video package at the start of the series saw him claim that he finds it hard to be faithful, dislikes feminists and believes that women and men are not equal, which brought him a negative reaction from the crowd. On Day 79, Mikey became the 11th housemate to be evicted with 48.5% of the public vote. In the days before he had a sudden spree of arguments with fellow housemates Glyn, Jennie and Imogen, which may have caused his eviction. On Day 83, he was then voted back in to the House Next Door with 7.3% of the public's vote, along with Grace, Lea and Nikki. He was evicted for a second and final time on Day 86. Mikey and Grace have had an ongoing relationship since leaving the House Next Door. In October 2006, it was announced that he had proposed to Grace and that she had accepted.^[39]

[edit] Nikki

See also: Nikki Grahame

Nikki Grahame (born April 1982) is a model, dancer and former escort^[40] from Watford, Hertfordshire.^[41] In Nikki's audition VT she claimed that it was her main ambition to marry a Premiership footballer, or other rich man, to use his credit card for unnecessary pampering, such as manicures, hair styling, shopping etc., but in the week following her eviction Nikki claimed on BBLB that after meeting Pete she no longer had this "shallow" attitude and dreams of becoming a "footballer's wife" was no longer one of her aspirations. She was noted for her diary room rants, including her now infamous reaction to Susie's nomination against her, ("Who is she? Who is she? Where did you find her?") and also her constant demands to have the air conditioning switched off.

Nikki was known for her histrionics and displays of brattish dissatisfaction at the slightest provocation. Her grievances ranged from a lack of male attention to not being provided with her £16 make-up remover or her favourite clothes. Nikki also demonstrated a distinct lack of aptitude in cooking food (she allowed a wok containing only olive oil to burn) while criticising a meal prepared for the whole House by Grace.

Nikki was up for eviction a total of four times while she was in the House.

Nikki was evicted on Day 58 with 37.2% of the vote.^[42] As she left the house, she stood at the door crying and screaming the words, "I don't want to go, please don't make me, I'm not ready" until Davina came and walked her out of the House. After her eviction, various campaigns were launched to get her back in. On Day 83, Nikki was the third ex-housemate voted back in to the House Next Door with 63% of the vote. On Day 86 she was chosen by the existing housemates to return to the main house, and became eligible to win. When Nikki entered the house for the second time, fans of the show criticised her for playing up to the cameras and taking advantage of her popularity in the outside world.

Nikki has had the most success of any of the Big Brother 2007 housemates so far. She has won awards for her appearance on the show, and has co-hosted several talk shows following her first and second departures. During her time away from the house, Nikki was given her own TV Show called Princess Nikki which followed Nikki as the producers gave her different jobs to do, such as working on a farm.

Nikki came fifth, and received a less positive reception at the final than at her first eviction. Davina attempted to interview her, but Nikki was reluctant to speak, claiming that she was scared and shocked by the "boos" from the crowd. Nikki asked Davina if she could go and sit with her ex-housemates, after receiving word from producers Davina granted her request. Nikki, perhaps not realising her request would be taken literally, said she wanted to stay and at least see her "best bits" VT. However, as this was her second eviction no "best bits" had been prepared, and she left the stage. Shortly after, she was shown with the other ex-housemates, and she later in the night appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth.

On 21 August, The Daily Mail revealed Nikki to be a former escort girl. Weeks before entering the house she escorted Pete Doherty.^[40]

After leaving the house Nikki started a relationship with Pete.^[43] Pete dumped Nikki after a few weeks.^[44]

[edit] Pete

See also: Pete Bennett

Pete Bennett (born 22 March 1982) was the winner of Big Brother 7. He is a rock and roll singer (with Daddy Fantastic) from Brighton and has Tourette syndrome. His characteristic phonic tic is a loud shout of "wankers". His symptoms are reported to have been aggravated by drug use.^[45]

There is ambiguity over Pete's surname. Some claim that it is Bennett^[46] and some that it is Stephenson.^[47] He uses his father's name Bennett, but his violinist mother is Anne Stephenson (his parents were not married).^[48] During a conversation with Aisleyne, he said that he, like her, had a double-barrelled name, which explains the discrepancies. Pete's prized possession is a teddy-bear given to him by Robert Smith, lead singer of band The Cure with whom his mother has played.

Pete had many admirers in the House (Lea, Nikki, Aisleyne, Lisa and Jennie), and it was noted that he had strong feelings toward Nikki. However, a psychologists on Big Brother's Big Brain have concluded that there was a lot of chemistry between him and Jennie and said "there is a bit of Romeo and Juliet going on". Between Nikki's eviction and her return to the main house on Day 86, Nikki claimed that she was 'in love with Pete' during her eviction interview with host Davina McCall.

Pete was the bookmaker's favourite since week one to win the series. On August 18, 2006, Pete won Big Brother 7 with 61.2% of the final vote. He stated he intends to give the money to his mother.^[49]

[edit] Richard

Richard Newman (born 28 July 1972 in the United Kingdom) is a waiter from London who moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at an early age, and returned to the UK ten years ago. An "out" gay man, Richard describes himself as a "sexual terrorist". He took on the role of the "father figure" in the House according to former fellow housemate George. Richard often mediated during fights between other housemates. He is also something of an "agony uncle" and was always giving advice to other housemates. He even taught Glyn how to wash his clothes.

Richard says that he has a preference for 'big dumb men, cops, firefighters and men in the military' and his ideal weekend away would be spent in a male prison. He also said his dream birthday present would be a bigger bed, because his current one can only hold two people. His sense of humour uses a lot of sexual innuendo, with which he greatly annoyed fellow gay housemate, Michael.

According to the shouting test, Richard was the loudest housemate. He holds a record of surviving eviction 6 times, the most in Big Brother UK history. While in the house, he formed close friendships with Susie, Lea, Nikki and Pete.

During the prison task, Richard swapped places with his "best friend" Pete, and as a result received a letter from home, describing how his mother was recovering from chemotherapy. The letter led him and most of the other housemates to break into tears, and is often remembered as one of the most emotional moments in the house. The day following was Richard's birthday, and a surprise party with a Madonna theme was organised for him, which made him very happy as he thought it could be his last day. He avoided eviction, however, with his "best friend" Pete.

On Day 84 Richard moved into the House Next Door with Imogen whilst they were both up for eviction, but he was returned to the main house on Day 86 after Imogen was voted out.

On the night of the Final, Richard came fourth, and his interview featured a VT of Richard's advice giving in the house, in a parody of a stereotypical TV "agony aunt". With the other former housemates, Richard appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth, where host Russell Brand, made fun of Richard's dancing, asking him to once again "Vogue" like Madonna.

On Monday 21 August 2006, Richard along with runner-up Glyn appeared in an interview on Richard and Judy. When asked what he'd like to do next, he announced that he'd like to do a project in the near future with his new, close housemate friend, Lea.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2006 it was announced that Richard is working as a co-host on the digital station Gaydar Radio. Now he hosts his own show.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sam

Sam Brodie (born March 1987) is a half Indonesian, half-Scottish pre-op transsexual from Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, and is a freelance nail technician. Sam entered on Day 12 as a prize for Meal or No Meal. Although neither having had, or intending to have, a sex-change operation, Davina revealed on the live programming that Sam prefers to be referred to as a female. Sam confessed to the housemates to being biologically male on the same night as entering the House, and said they could act however they wish. Sam appeared to have insomnia and became known for repeatedly telling all the housemates that they were "amazing".^[50][51] Sam speaks fluent Malay, Indonesian and French.^[52]

Some housemates apparently felt Sam was "too nice" which they considered to be suspicious. Sam also caused controversy among housemates by entering or staying inside the bathroom whilst others tried to use the toilet. On Day 23, Sam lost out to Nikki and became the third housemate to be evicted from BB7, with 53.7% of the vote.

[edit] Sezer

Sezer Yurtseven (born 24 February 1980[8]) is a Turkish-Cypriot, stock broker and property developer from London. Sezer previously played cricket for Kent up to under-19 level. He is a former boxer, competing in white collar boxing,^[53][54] and he claims he is the youngest person to have been on the London Stock Exchange floor at the age of 18, but the London Stock Exchange closed when Sezer was 6.

He is registered with the Financial Services Authority as having worked in commodities and foreign exchange trading at three different firms: a brokerage called ADM between 2001 and 2002, then as an independent trader at London Capital Group until 2004, and at a trading arcade called Schneider Trading Associates up to February 2006. Sezer is also a director of three companies, including the eponymous Cezer Trading and Seven International Property (both dormant having never traded). The Sun revealed that Sezer had been arrested for an alleged date rape in 2004 but the charge was dropped due to lack of evidence.^[55] In July 2006, he was arrested over a second rape allegation and answered bail on August 17, 2006.^[56] He was therefore not available to re-enter the "Secret House" in Week 12, hence Davina mentioning that he was not allowed back in for "legal reasons".

Sezer was evicted on Day 16 with a record 91.6% of the vote. It is believed that Sezer was evicted because he told fellow housemates that the girls watching would vote to keep him in. He even told Imogen that if they were both up for eviction, he would win because more girls vote than boys. Several housemates later cited this as being sexist. It was this perceived smugness and vanity, and his confiding to housemates that he intended to "bully" at least one other housemate, that probably led to Sezer's downfall. He was self-assured right up to the moment his name was announced, at which point his mouth fell open in shock. He walked out to boos and jeering. After watching footage of himself in his eviction interview he was confused to what he had done wrong. Due to the recent rape allegations, Sezer was not invited to the Big Brother 7 Final Night. Recent pictures in various celebrity magazines showed Sezer attending the Big Brother 7 Wrap-Up party. He was on bail until October 2. The case has since been dropped due to lack of evidence.^[57]

[edit] Shahbaz

Shahbaz Chauhdry (born March 1969) is a Glaswegian of Pakistani ethnicity, who attended Hillhead High School. As a teenager he was reportedly physically abused by his father who was suspicious of his homosexuality and was disowned by his family as a result. He then came out.^[58] He styles himself as "the Paki poof" (the "poof" referring to his homosexual orientation) or a "wacky Paki", a phrase that caused offence with Dawn.^[59] Shahbaz writes poetry in his spare time and longs to get it published one day. He is trilingual, being able to speak English, as well as fluent Punjabi and Urdu.[9] He also knits and classifies himself as unemployable, stating he has survived on unemployment benefit for 21 years. However, according to the Daily Star he once worked as an entertainer in a detention centre for illegal immigrants^{[citation needed]}. In the House he claimed he had once worked as a prostitute when he was 16 years old due to the fact he was homeless and desperate for money, but after being heavily abused by clients he felt humiliated and has never done it again.

Shahbaz was criticised by some housemates for what they regard as childish behaviour including ruining most of the food in the House by throwing it in a box in the garden. It was generally accepted that he did not adapt well to life in the House. Through his acting-out behaviour and "theatrical" monologues Shahbaz was cast aside by the majority of his fellow housemates. Shahbaz was being monitored by production team psychologists following comments that he intended to commit suicide whilst in the House^[60] and he asked to leave the Big Brother House, departing on Day 6. On this final day in the House he was subjected to bullying and being shunned by other housemates, which included them locking him outside in the garden, mocking him, stealing his clothes while he was swimming, insulting him, throwing his breakfast in the trash can and then blaming him for wasting food, and pointedly leaving the sitting room upon his entrance. All housemates present left the living room except George, who stayed in the room claiming that he was his "own man".

After leaving the House, Shahbaz admitted to having understated his mental condition to psychologists during interviews for the programme, therefore cheating the selection process.^[61]

Shahbaz attended the series Finale, giving a negative 'thumbs down' reaction to Richard on his eviction.

He's since appeared on several episodes of The Friday Night Project, usually during Big Brother comedy sketches, and has also appeared on Big Brother's Little Brother and Big Brother's Big Mouth on more than one occasion.

[edit] Spiral

Glen Coroner, known as Spiral, (born 28 November 1983) is a DJ and rapper from Dublin. He describes himself as sexy, positive and funny. He lives with his parents. Spiral is also very involved in the club scene but does not drink alcohol or smoke.

On Day 49 he was picked by Aisleyne to enter the main Big Brother House - once he and Aisleyne entered the House it was clear that he felt an attraction towards her. When Aisleyne refused to kiss him in a game of Spin the Bottle, Spiral was deeply offended as he had thought that his feelings for Aisleyne might be mutual; this caused Aisleyne and Spiral to drift further and further apart as Aisleyne saw Spiral as merely a friend whereas Spiral wanted more. On one occasion Spiral jumped out of the shower while he was naked and hugged Aisleyne; this event resulted in Aisleyne being deeply upset and Spiral receiving a formal warning from Big Brother. During his stay in the House, Spiral was known to become aggressive when faced with an argument, normally with the female housemates. After his advances were rejected by Aisleyne, he accused of her of "not respecting herself enough" and also verbally attacked Nikki for "looking at him funny".

On Day 72, Spiral was evicted with "Best Friend" Michael in a double eviction, after receiving only 9.7% of the public vote to save them.

After his spell in the house, Spiral appeared on sister show Big Brother's Big Mouth. Russell Brand repeatedly made fun of his now infamous rap lick "I'd - do - everything to you".

Spiral has released a single "Finglas", which entered the Top 10 in Ireland.^[62]

[edit] Susie

Susie Verrico (born 21 March 1963) is a model from West Malling, Kent who entered the House with a Golden Ticket from the promotion with Nestlé Rowntree's. Some of her most notable work during her modelling career was as a stripper in HIM's cover version of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game and as a keyboard player in the Robert Palmer video "Addicted to Love"^{[citation needed]}. Married to a wealthy businessman, she has also been a lap-dancer.^[63] In order to gain her entry into the House, her husband bought sixty boxes of Kit Kats, but without finding a ticket. He later bid £4000 on eBay for one, subsequently winning. As well as having auditioned for Big Brother 7, Susie has also auditioned for series 3; 5, where she had made it as a standby housemate but was not used; and 6. Because of this, several housemates recognised her from auditions and the press carried suggestions that the lottery which ended up with her entering the House was rigged. According to the tabloids, Susie was trained by public relations guru, Max Clifford, on how to succeed as a Big Brother housemate and establish a career as a television presenter.^[64]

As the Golden Housemate, for her first week Susie was obligated to abide by the Golden Rules:

1. Susie had her own Golden Quarters, including a Golden Bedroom, Golden Toilet and Golden Shower.
2. Susie had to wear gold at all times.
3. Susie was the only housemate to nominate in week 4. The other housemates knew this before the nominations, but were forbidden from telling Susie. The two housemates she chose (Nikki and Grace) therefore automatically faced eviction. Any housemate that revealed this to Susie would also have faced eviction.

Following her nominations of Grace and Nikki in Week 4, Susie was bullied by the two for her choices. This included Susie's room being raided and robbed of a bottle of champagne by Grace who then shared it with several close housemates in the toilets, and Grace throwing a cup of water at Susie during her 30 second eviction countdown. Susie simply replied "you're certainly no lady, Grace", to which Grace replied "Neither are you, you moose!". Although Grace has stated that she said that to Aisleyne who was sticking up for Susie. This took place during a conversation with Richard. On Day 73, as part of the task, Susie was shown to be the least intelligent and most emotionally stable of the housemates in the House at that time.^[65] During the course of Big Brother Susie was often shown either drinking tea or doing nothing which led to her being labelled as boring by some housemates.^[66]

On Day 79, Susie became the 12th housemate to be evicted from the House in a double eviction receiving 59.4% of the public vote between 3 people (Imogen & Jennie were also up for eviction, along with Mikey who was first of the night's two evictees.)

[edit] References